hyphenated

Hyphenated is defined as containing a punctuation mark that joins two parts of a word or two compound words, or that allows for a word to break at the end of a line.

When you are writing the word abbreviate and you come to the end of the line and write "abbrev-iate" this is an example of a time when you hyphenated the word.

When your last name is Jones and you get married to Mr. Smith and your name becomes Mrs. Jones-Smith, this is an example of a time when you hyphenated your name.

hyphenated

adjective

connected or separated with a hyphen

☆ of or pertaining to a citizen of a country who is identified with the ethnic group or nationality of his or her forebears and, typically, designated by a hyphenated compound: hyphenated Americans, such as Chinese-Americans, Polish-Americans, etc.

hyphenated

adjective

Having a hyphen: a hyphenated adjective.

Often Offensive Of or relating to naturalized citizens or their descendants or culture.

Usage Note: Naturalized immigrants to the United States and their descendants have sometimes been termed hyphenated Americans in reference to the tendency to hyphenate such ethnic compounds as Irish-American and Polish-American. This term has come under strong criticism as suggesting that those so designated are not as fully American as “unhyphenated” citizens, and it is best avoided in all but historical contexts.

Some dictionaries list hyphenated words as though they contained no punctuation.

Of a person, considered to have more than one nationality or ethnicity (such as French-Canadian, Afro-Argentine, etc.).

"[The Community Newspaper] is one of the many symbolic emblems that stand for the other half of the hyphenated American’s identity." Hyphenated Americans Must Look At Their Mirror -- The Community Newspaper -- To Do What Is Right, October 28, 2005.